[NEW YORK, NY] - Today marks the 23rd Anniversary of the start of the Rwanda genocide when 80% of the Tutsi population in Rwanda was exterminated. Over the course of 100 days, up to a half million Tutsi women were raped, sexually mutilated or murdered. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda handed down the first conviction for the use of rape as an act of genocide.

[NEW YORK, NY] - Yesterday, Jordan welcomed Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s President, for the Arab League’s annual summit. Bashir is attending despite two longstanding arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his actions in Darfur, including rape, murder, torture and extermination. He has been charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and has been a fugitive from the ICC since 2009.

I’m back very recently from meetings in Brussels and London and we are not alone! The growing resistance to Trump’s actions to undermine women, including by censoring abortion-related speech globally, is real and growing.

I am convinced that the Trump debacle has opened up unforeseen opportunities to make radical advances to improve the rule of law, including women’s rights.

I was invited to meet with the EU officials to discuss ways the EU could fight the US abortion restrictions. I presented at a parliamentary briefing and we equipped European policy makers with charts and memos on the likely impact of the restrictions on EU humanitarian aid.

Washington, DC – Today, on International Women’s Day and the day of the Women’s Strike, the Global Justice Center joins over 40 other partner organizations in protesting against Trump’s reinstated and expanded Global Gag Rule.

[NEW YORK] – Today, Donald Trump signed a revised executive order extending his racist and xenophobic campaign promise—ban refugees and immigrants from largely Muslim countries. This ban is accompanied by a halt in taking in refugees and increased vetting protocols that can be used as a pretext to surveil and profile those who enter the United States.

Brussels (BE)– Today, the Belgian, Dutch, Swedish and Danish Governments hosted a conference in support of the global fundraising initiative “She Decides.” The initiative was founded to combat the impact of the Global Gag Rule that Donald Trump signed on his second day in office.

Over one month ago Donald Trump reinstated and expanded the Global Gag Rule. As organizations around the world wait for official guidelines on what the expansion means, GJC and other women's rights groups are already working hard to combat these deadly restrictions on women's healthcare.

Today, GJC participated in the She Decides Conference in Brussels. The conference brought together representatives from governments, civil society and women on the ground with the aim of joining forces to mitigate the impact of the decrease in US funding from Trump's Global Gag Rule.

Women have been the leaders of successful resistance movements around the world. From the women of Liberia's mass action for peace, to mothers in Argentina and women's groups in Burma, women's rights activists are often the first to speak out against the rise of extremism.

After the women's march on January 21st, which was the largest peaceful day of protest in US history, GJC and other women's rights groups are keeping the momentum going.

Join GJC in DC on March 8th, the day of the nationwide Women's Strike, as we protest against Trump's reinstatement and expansion of the Global Gag Rule.

[NEW YORK] – This weekend, the German newspaper “Welt am Sonntag” reported that in December, the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office obtained an international arrest warrant for a high-ranking ISIS commander who according to sources was “significantly responsible to the sexual slavery of Yazidi women and girls.” The warrant for genocide and war crimes, would be the first international arrest warrant for what is an ongoing genocide against the Yazidi.

“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing." - Simon Wiesenthal

[NEW YORK] – Today, on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, the Global Justice Center calls on the international community to remember Holocaust victims by standing up to renewed anti-Semitism, hatred, racism, and discrimination. The Nazi ideology of race resulted in the systematic persecution and murder of six million Jews, and other groups such as the Roma, Slavic, Communists, Socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, LGBTI and persons with disabilities.

[NEW YORK] – Today, Donald Trump followed through on one of his racist and xenophobic campaign promise—ban refugees and immigrants from largely Muslim countries. This ban is accompanied by a drastic reduction in the number of refugees the US will take and a series of other undefined and vague provisions that could be used as a pretext to surveil and profile those who enter the United States.

[NEW YORK] – Today, Mr. Trump reinstated the Global Gag Rule, an executive policy that extends Congressional abortion restrictions on foreign assistance by barring US foreign aid from going to any foreign organization that performs or provides information about abortions as a method of family planning.

[NEW YORK] – Today marks the 44th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade, two days after the inauguration of Donald Trump, and one day after millions of women all over the world marched in support of women’s rights. Any moment now Mr. Trump is expected to reinstate the Global Gag Rule, which bars US foreign aid from going to any foreign organization that performs or provides information about abortions as a method of family planning.

[NEW YORK] – Today, as Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, it is important to remember that no one—and no country—is above the law. Over the course of his presidential campaign, Mr. Trump has expressed his attitude on a range of issues, from abortion to immigration to torture, that are antithetical to the notion of human rights. Many of his proposed policies, if enacted, would put him or the US in violation of international law.

After World War II, there was a human rights revolution that resulted in strong treaties and human rights laws. These laws are underscored by the recognition that there are rights so fundamental that they transcend borders and individual policies.

GJC was founded to move these laws from paper to practice.

Donald Trump's presidency will test this foundation of human rights law like never before. Our legal experts have spent years studying, researching and fighting for the enforcement of international law to build a global system of justice founded on gender equality. We are ready to fight back against whatever action Trump takes that threatens this rule of law.